Not A Regressor-Chapter 318: Faded Promise (10)

A wild and ferocious fire raged as though it could consume the entire world. The flames swirled freely through the air like living creatures and wrapped around the charging demonkin, burning them to ashes.

“Aaaaaargh!”

Acrid smoke from their burning flesh filled the chamber like the fog blanketing the Sky Mountains. The searing heat felt like it could incinerate one’s soul. The demonkin couldn’t even approach Song Ha-Eun properly. They could only scream in agony.

“Q-Quick, we have to kill that bitch!” One of the demonkin managed to push through the flames and reached Song Ha-Eun.

“What the hell? Why are you calling me a bitch when we just met?” Song Ha-Eun took a boxing stance, bouncing lightly on her feet.

Though her Stigma specialized in long-range attacks, her natural reflexes and consistent training had given her formidable close-combat skills as well.

She jumped lightly in rhythm and landed a straight punch on the approaching demonkin.

Smack!

With the crunch of a nose breaking, the demonkin was sent flying backward.

“That’s more like it!” she said.

Song-Ha felt light as a feather. Even her casual punch carried devastating power.

She danced between the demonkin charging through the flames, taking each one down with a single punch.

They shrieked in pain like demonic beasts.

“Graaaagh!”

The demonkin, engulfed in flames, collapsed one by one.

“H-Holy shit, Oh-Jin. I’m so fucking strong now.”

Even Song Ha-Eun looked at the demonkin corpses with wide eyes, barely believing it herself. As she grew drunk on the thrill running down her spine, one of the demonkin with horrible burns grabbed her ankle from the ground.

“Guh!”

“Huh? W-What the hell?”

Black clouds flowed out from the horn protruding from the demonkin’s forehead.

Rumble!

“Die...!”

As the black clouds gathered around the demonkin’s hand clutching her ankle, a black spear flew in and cleanly pierced through the demonkin’s head.

Crunch!

“Ah.”

“You can’t let your guard down even at the end, Ha-Eun,” Kwon Oh-Jin said.

“Sorry. Guess I got a little too excited.” Song Ha-Eun scratched her head with an awkward smile after her sloppy finish.

Kwon Oh-Jin approached her, who was in her dragonkin form, and marveled inwardly.

She’s gotten unbelievably strong.

Song Ha-Eun had always possessed a higher star rank than him, but had been the weakest among the group. It wasn’t because she lacked skills, but because Isabella and Kwon Oh-Jin possessed power beyond normal limits.

In terms of pure destructive power, that fire just now probably surpassed even Isabella.

Even Kwon Oh-Jin couldn’t reduce nearly thirty demonkin to ashes in under ten minutes unless he used Open Heaven.

There’s no way I can keep up with her when it comes to fighting multiple opponents now.

Song Ha-Eun had always been the best at crowd control. Now that she had absorbed the dragon’s soul, her power had skyrocketed like a strategic weapon.

She’s still a bit lacking in one-on-one combat, though.

If this were a game, Song Ha-Eun would be a mage-type character who cast powerful spells from a distance that affected a large area. However, she still couldn’t match Kwon Oh-Jin in close combat since he specialized in head-to-head battles. Even just now, a half-dead demonkin had caused her to panic from merely grabbing her ankle.

But if she has a reliable group to protect her...

Song Ha-Eun’s power could rival, or even surpass, that of an eleven-star Awakener.

“How was that? Huh? I’m freaking amazing, right, Oh-Jin?” Song Ha-Eun proudly tilted her chin up, clearly thrilled by the newfound power.

Kwon Oh-Jin chuckled and nodded. “Do you have any other symptoms?”

“Other symptoms?”

“Yeah, like do you hear the Dragon God’s voice in your head or anything?”

She shook her head. “Hmm... No, nothing like that.”

“And what about your body?”

“Oh, this?” She ran her hand over the red scales covering parts of her neck and cheek.

Shhh.

The scales withdrew into her skin, and she returned to her normal human form.

“It only happens when I use the power of the Draconic Eye.”

“And you can control it freely?”

“Yup. I’ve always used the Draconic Eye, after all. It just tires me out a bit if I overdo it.”

In that case, did it mean that Song Ha-Eun now possessed immense power that didn’t come with any side effects or backlash? Without any real effort or any particular hardship, she had suddenly gained overwhelming power like a protagonist falling off a cliff and stumbling upon a miraculous opportunity in a cave.

What is this feeling?

It felt like watching gears that didn’t quite fit together. Kwon Oh-Jin frowned and bit his lip with a faintly anxious expression.

“Oh-Jin?”

“Ah, sorry. It’s nothing.” He forcibly cut off the thoughts swirling in his head.

They still had work to do. He could think about this later.

Kellion was still weeping, clutching the Dragon God’s half-melted corpse.

“Hic... sob... Lord Kaleios...”

Song Ha-Eun hesitated before approaching him cautiously. “Um... I-I’m sorry. I didn’t expect this to happen.”

She hadn’t meant for this to happen, but the Dragon God’s soul had mistakenly fused with her instead of awakening in its intended vessel. The Dragon God had died without ever waking.

Kellion weakly shook his head through his tears. “No... I was the one who brought you here.”

He couldn’t blame her now after breaking the barrier and bringing her to the Dragon God’s lair. If anyone was at fault, it was him as he helplessly watched the Dragon God die without being able to do anything.

“Let’s head outside for now.”

As much as Kwon Oh-Jin wanted to let Kellion grieve longer, they couldn’t afford to waste time while the demonkin still roamed the kingdom.

Even if fifty died here, there’s still at least that many more.

Including the demonic beast army that hadn’t come to the lair, the demonkin likely possessed even greater strength.

And there weren’t any high-ranking demonkin among those that came to the lair.

High-ranking demonkin like Kalike, whom Kwon Oh-Jin had faced in the Khan Kingdom, were far more powerful than the average. Someone had to be commanding the horde of over a hundred demonkin, but that commander hadn’t shown up at the lair either.

There’s no way such a large force attacked this kingdom without a commander.

The commander was likely still leading the remaining demonkin troops outside.

If only we could meet up with Isabella.

If they could join up with Isabella and the dragonkin forces, they could completely drive out the demonkin now that Song Ha-Eun had inherited the Dragon God’s power.

I should try contacting Isabella first.

Kwon Oh-Jin pulled out the communication Astral Relic from his pocket.

Woong.

As if she read his mind, a message came from Isabella before he could even reach out.

—Were you able to awaken the Dragon God?

She asked immediately without any greetings.

“No, the awakening failed.”

—What? You failed?

“I’ll explain later. How’s the situation looking outside?”

—That’s actually why I contacted you. The demonkin forces are retreating.

“What?”

They were retreating all of a sudden?

“What do you mean?”

—I’m not entirely sure either. Just moments ago, part of their forces were still chasing us... Then, suddenly, they said a retreat order came down, and all of them poured out of the kingdom. That’s why I assumed you had successfully awakened the Dragon God.

So, that’s why she was so shocked when I said it had failed.

“Anyway, you’re saying they’ve all withdrawn?”

—Yes. The dragonkin are celebrating like crazy, saying the Dragon God has awakened.

A bitter feeling spread in his mouth as if he had eaten a mouthful of sand.

Did he now have to go outside and ruin their parade, telling them that the Dragon God never awakened, but died instead?

“I’ll tell them, Oh-Jin.”

“You, Ha-Eun?”

“Yeah. If someone’s going to say it, it should be me.” Song Ha-Eun clenched her fists as her expression stiffened.

“I’ll go with you.” Kellion rose to his feet, using his staff for support.

With a heavy expression, Kwon Oh-Jin watched Song Ha-Eun and Kellion’s backs as they slowly walked toward the lair’s exit.

They had won the war with only a few casualties. The lost kingdom had been reclaimed. However, the god they had prayed to for over a century, the one they had so desperately waited for, would never open its eyes again. Not now and not ever.

***

The dragonkin had reclaimed their kingdom, but the atmosphere felt as somber as a funeral.

The Dragon God’s death was a far greater shock to the dragonkin than Kwon Oh-Jin had anticipated. This wasn’t some abstract deity they had worshipped from afar. The merciful god had once given its life to protect them. Its death plunged them into great despair.

As if they had lost all will to restore their broken kingdom, many dragonkin simply collapsed in the streets like soulless dolls.

The wails of grief echoing through the kingdom didn’t stop for several days.

“Hic... waaaaah!”

“Lord Kaleios... how, how could you leave us behind?”

“We believed you would wake up!”

Though they had won the war, they looked no different from a defeated army.

To them, the Dragon God Kaleios had been nothing short but hope itself. In the place where hope vanished, despair spread faster than any disease, infecting the dragonkin. Some of them even began to take their own lives.

Song Ha-Eun let out a deep, frustrated sigh. “Haaa. What are we supposed to do now?”

Just today alone, three dragokin had committed suicide.

“Is having a god really that important?” she murmured as she sat curled up on the bed, clearly unable to understand.

Isabella gently placed a hand on her shoulder in comfort. “To the dragonkin, the Dragon God isn’t so much a god, but a parent-like figure.”

The Dragon God had stayed behind until the end to protect them when they were nothing more than slaves. To the dragonkin, Kaleios wasn’t just a deity to believe in and follow, but someone far more than that—their only hope and salvation.

The pillar that had held them up for a hundred years finally crumbled. No wonder they had fallen into such deep despair.

“After all, the dragonkin were created for the very purpose of serving dragons,” Isabella said.

The mindset that they could only live by serving someone else was carved into their lives and souls.

“To them, a dragon god they can believe in and follow is absolutely essential,” Isabella continued.

And that god had died now.

“I guess there’s nothing we can do then...” Song Ha-Eun sighed deeply again.

“No, there is something,” Kwon Oh-Jin said.

“Huh? What do you mean?” she asked.

Kwon Oh-Jin, who had been silently thinking in his chair, stood up. He gently placed a hand on Song Ha-Eun’s shoulder. “You can become their god, Ha-Eun.”

If the previous god had died, then they just needed to create a new one.